Natural stone flooring is beautiful and durable. The qualities of the natural gneiss from Ivaylovgrad make it a preferred material for beautiful flooring in the yard and in the interior.
Special requirements for working with natural stone slabs
When laying natural stone flooring, standard working methods as well as standard products are not suitable. Later in this material we will describe in detail how the gluing is performed and what primer is used.
Methods for laying natural stone slabs
For natural gneiss stone flooring, the following methods are used:
- mechanical fastening
- gluing
- a combination of both methods.
The choice of method for fixing the slabs depends on the type of stone and the terrain. In most cases, gluing is used. It can be thin-layer, medium-layer or thick-layer.
Adhesives and grouts
To ensure that you will achieve the strength of the gluing of the tiles and the strength of the joints, use only materials designed for natural stones, as well as materials and mixtures recommended by specialists.
Preparing the base
The base of the flooring must be stable. It is very important that there is no pollution. If the home is new, it is preferable to wait at least three months for the natural subsidence to happen.
Irregularities in the base must be corrected with a repair solution. Once the corrected areas are dry, you can proceed with the arrangement of the floor tiles.
Gluing tiles with glue for natural stones
Provide enough glue for the entire area. Apply it with a trowel. If the stones are uneven, the layer of glue should be thicker in some places. It is important to have a trass in the glue. It is a rock of volcanic origin that hardens easily, even under water, and is used as a hydraulic additive. Thus the adhesive layer will be more resistant to environmental influences.
Bonding tiles with a primer of sand, cement and glue
A mixture of sand and cement with the addition of glue can also be used for gluing slabs of Ivaylovgrad gneiss for flooring, and then water is added to the dry mixture until a thick solution is obtained. The proportions are sand to cement 2:1, add 20% glue to them, then mix with water and stir.
The addition of glue provides flexibility to the mixture. Else, without glue, both the concrete base at the bottom and the natural stone slabs at the top will absorb water very quickly and no strong bonding will occur.
The mixture for the stone slabs, which is a primer, is applied not on the whole terrain, but in strips of half a meter so that it does not dry out.
Grouting
When arranging the paving stones, joints with a width of about 1 cm must be left. When grouting, they are filled with mortar after the glued tiles have dried. Pour the grout into the joints and after drying the residues are cleaned with a wire brush.
Choose a suitable grout. It must be highly elastic and with increased water resistance . Another important requirement is to be resistant to contamination.
How to achieve pavement leveling
When laying a large area, every 4 meters a plate is attached, which serves as a reference point for leveling.
Prepare all materials and follow the rules when gluing the tiles. This way you will achieve a solid pavement that will shine with the beauty of the stone from Valmarg Stone.